Beacon-based media network

ABSTRACT

Techniques and system configurations for providing content to a mobile device based on activity in a physical commercial environment such as a retail store are described herein. Mobile devices that are operated by an associated customer may be tracked with the use of beacons to determine customer activities in the retail store, including particular areas visited in the store, activities conducted by the customer in the store, and like tracking information. The customer activity and data for the activities and locations in the physical environment may be correlated to an identifier, profile, or other tracking information. This tracking information may be subsequently used by the mobile device to identify the user to an advertising network, or other information service, and obtain customized media content and information.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 14/610,605, filed Jan. 30, 2015, which is related to: U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/180,484, titled “Retail Customer ServiceInteraction System and Method,” filed on Feb. 2, 2014; and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/031,113, titled “Retail Customer ServiceInteraction System and Method,” filed on Sep. 19, 2013; each of which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments pertain to mobile device tracking and information systemprocessing activities. Some embodiments pertain to techniques to trackand correlate mobile device activity (and related customer activity) atphysical locations to later activities and uses of the mobile device.

BACKGROUND

Many retailers of goods and services maintain real-world (e.g., physical“brick-and-mortar”) stores to market goods and services to customers.Customer shopping activity in the real-world store may include a varietyof customer behaviors that occur prior to, during, or after a purchaseof the item. Such customer behavior may include product evaluation andcomparisons, product uses and demonstrations, discussions of productswith other customers or employees, and other types of shopping activity.Additionally, for some of these customer visits to a real-world store,no purchase activity will occur.

Various techniques exist for tracking the number of customers that entera store, and in some cases, tracking whether a particular customerenters a particular store location. Such techniques, however, often failto track or measure the interactions and type of activity that thesecustomers have within particular sections of the store, or the specificitems, brands, or types of products that a particular customer isinterested in. Likewise, existing customer tracking techniques aretypically limited to storing basic records of customer purchaseactivity, and such tracking techniques often fail to collect useful datathat records the type and location of other customer activity within astore. Many of the customer activities that occur in a real-world retailsetting, including product browsing and in-store product interactions,are not observed or monitored.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates tracked customer interactions in a real-world retailenvironment according to an example described herein.

FIG. 2 illustrates communication activities occurring among systems anddevices based on customer activity in a real-world retail environmentaccording to an example described herein.

FIG. 3 illustrates interactions of a mobile device with customertracking and content delivery systems to access content in abeacon-based media network according to an example described herein.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example scenario of accessing locationactivity-customized content in a beacon-based media network using amobile software application, according to an example described herein.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example scenario of accessing locationactivity-customized content in a beacon-based media network usingmultiple mobile software applications, according to an example describedherein.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method performed by a mobile computingdevice for content retrieval in a beacon-based media network, accordingto an example described herein.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example method performed by tracking and contentselection subsystems for content delivery in a beacon-based medianetwork, according to an example described herein.

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of computing system componentsadapted for interaction with a beacon-based media network, according toan example described herein.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example mobile computing device on which theconfigurations and techniques described herein may be deployed.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating operational components of acomputing device upon which any one or more of the methodologies hereindiscussed may be run.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and drawings sufficiently illustrate specificembodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Otherembodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process,and other changes. Portions and features of some embodiments may beincluded in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments. Embodimentsset forth in the claims encompass all available equivalents of thoseclaims.

Some of the examples discussed herein are directed to techniques thatenable tracking arid identification of real-world customer activities incommerce settings. These customer activities are tracked and identifiedfor correlation with subsequent content delivery from a media deliverysystem. In one example, the described techniques enable a commercialentity (e.g., a retailer) to collect and process useful commerceinformation from the activity of individual users that occurs in a storeor other retail environment. This useful commerce information may becollected and processed for the retrieval and delivery of otherinformation, such as advertisements and other media content, which areselected on the basis of certain types of real-world customeractivities.

In some of the examples further described herein, software applications(“apps”) executing on a mobile computing device may interact with one ora plurality of beacons in a tracked environment. As the user's mobilecomputing device navigates among the locations in the trackedenvironment, the mobile computing device interacts with differentbeacons deployed at known locations in the tracked environment. Thisinteraction with the beacons is tracked in the form of a “cookie”,token, session identifier, or other data maintained for (or by) themobile computing device. At a later time, media content is selected forthe mobile computing device based on the tracked interaction with thebeacons. Specifically, media content may be selected for the mobilecomputing device based on the visited locations of the respectivebeacons and the brand or type of products, services activities, and thelike that are nearby (e.g., proximate) to the visited locations of therespective beacons.

As a simple example, consider a scenario where a customer with a mobilecomputing device (e.g., a smartphone) enters into a retail storefeaturing a plurality of store departments. The customer conductsshopping activity including browsing throughout multiple departments ofthe store, but spends the majority of the time in the home theatersection reviewing televisions. The beacons that are located throughoutthe store correspond to respective departments of the store and specificproduct displays within the departments of the store. The customer'sproximity to a particular beacon at a known location of the televisiondisplay within the home theater section is tracked by the mobilecomputing device (or, tracked by the beacon). As customer navigates toother areas of the store, the mobile computing device interacts withother beacons. The navigation and activity information of the customer'smobile computing device within the store is maintained on the mobiledevice, or with a tracking system connected to the mobile device or thebeacons.

Continuing this example, at a later time, the customer launches asoftware application which accesses a media content network (offeringadvertising media content, for example). The media content networkutilizes the tracking information of the particular mobile deviceobtained from the tracking system, which has stored data for lastinteraction of the customer in the retail store (e.g., indicating alarge amount of time that the customer spent inside the home theatersection reviewing televisions). The media content network then selectsand provides advertisements on the basis of this activity (such asadvertisements for particular brands featured in the home theatersection), on the basis of related activity (such as advertisements forproducts related to the television) or on the basis of related userprofile information (such as advertisements suited to a certaindemographic of shoppers for home theater equipment and televisions).

As will be further explained below, these tracking and media deliveryexamples may be further integrated with the use of multiple softwareapplications on the mobile computing device, with the use ofbeacon-based advertising networks, and with the use of customerprofiling and tracking systems. Further, the tracking techniquesdescribed herein may be integrated with client-side operations tomaintain location identifiers and user profile information from useractivity, or the tracking techniques may be integrated with system-sideoperations to track device identifiers, customer profile information,commercial purchase activity, media viewing activity, and relatedtrackable user activity.

As will be explained in reference to the following examples, locationtracking features for a customer's mobile device may be implemented inconnection with beacons or like identification stations. In one example,the location identification may be provided in connection with Bluetoothor Near Field Communications (NFC) identification beacons or tags. Inanother example, the location identification may be provided inconnection with the use of Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) positioningservices and similar indoor positioning techniques (provided by systemsreferred to as indoor geolocation or “indoor GPS” positioning systems).The techniques described herein utilize location-aware consumer devicessuch as smartphones and techniques such as wireless network tracking tocompile location information that may be used in connection withsubsequent media content delivery. These location techniques may beenhanced through retailer-specific information on store layouts, producttypes and brands, mapping information, and customer profile informationthat are exclusive to the retailer and the retailer's knowledge of theconsumer user. This customer and location information may be correlatedto media content delivery information and the selection and control ofparticular media content including but not limited to customizedadvertisements, audiovisual content, software content, and likeinformation offerings.

FIG. 1 provides a system illustration 100 of tracked electronicinteractions with a customer 130 operating a mobile computing device 132within a real-world retail environment according to one example. FIG. 1in particular shows user activities occurring within a retailenvironment such as a particular retail store 111 of a retailer 104. Asshown the retailer 104 may operate a plurality of retail stores 110 andconduct various sales and service activities within the particularretail store 111. Although the following example is provided withreference to the particular retail store 111, it will be understood thatthe techniques described herein may collect and deploy data on anenterprise-, region-, or a multiple-store basis, or focus activities toindividual stores (and sections within individual stores).

As shown, the particular retail store 111 is connected to a headquartersof the retailer 104 via a private network connection 105A, and theplurality of retail stores 110 are likewise connected to theheadquarters of the retailer 104 through at least one private networkconnection 105B. Customer tracking data is maintained for the pluralityof retail stores 110 and the particular retail store 111 for processingby servers 106 and storage by a data warehouse 108.

In the particular retail store 111, a customer 130 operates a mobilecomputing device 132 within a plurality of store departments andsections. (The customer 130 may be in active or passive operation of themobile computing device 132, for example, with the use of software thatoperates on-demand, automatically, or as a background application on themobile computing device 132.)

Within the particular retail store 111, the customer 130 may be involvedin various types of commercial activities, such as shopping activities,promotional activities, and service activities. These commercialactivities in the retail store 111 may be tracked and monitored inconnection with the data collected by the headquarters of the retailer104. As an example, at a first location 112 (a product sales area in avideo department of the particular retail store 111), the customer 130may spend time browsing store shelves for a particular title or genre;this activity is tracked in connection with the detection of beacon 124Alocated in (or adjacent to) the product sales area. As another example,at a second location 114, the customer may interact with a product in ademonstration area; this activity is tracked in connection with thedetection of beacon 124B located in (or adjacent to) the demonstrationarea. As another example, at a third location 116, the customer may viewanother product in a second demonstration area; this activity is trackedin connection with the detection of beacon 124C located in (or adjacentto) the second demonstration area. As another example, at a fourthlocation 118, the customer may view a vendor display, or interact withspecific employees or persons at the vendor display; this activity istracked in connection with the detection of beacon 124D located in (oradjacent to) the vendor display area. As another example, at a fifthlocation 120, the customer may conduct a purchase activity; thisactivity is tracked in connection with the detection of beacon 124Elocated in (or adjacent to) the purchase activity area (e.g., at thestore checkout or point-of-sale system).

In some examples, the data may also be collected in connection withoperation of one or more of the illustrated beacons (e.g., beacons 124A,124B, 124C, 124D, 124E) and, optionally, radio frequency tags or otherdetectable markers or identifiers that can be detected at particularlocations in the retail environment (e.g., to be detected when thecustomer 130 is in proximity to a store display when browsing the videoproduct sales area at the first location 112). In other examples, thepositioning of the customer 130 at the various locations 112, 114, 116,118, 120 is determined in connection with indoor positioning (e.g.,triangulation or trilateration) performed with the use of a plurality ofWi-Fi access points 122A, 122B, 122C; this activity may be tracked inconnection with the entry or movement of the customer into or within thevarious locations 112, 114, 116, 118, 120 or surrounding location areas,which may be determined in connection with geofences, perimeters, andlike defined areas.

The information from the customer activity in the particular retailstore 111 may be transmitted to the retailer 104 in connection with aprivate network connection 105B. In another example, the informationfrom the customer activity in the particular retail store 111 istransmitted to the retailer 104 in connection with a publicly facinginterface (e.g., an application programming interface (API)) that isaccessible by the customer mobile computing device 132.

The information from the customer activity in the particular retailstore 111 and the other retail stores 110 is accessed by a contentnetwork 102 in connection with a network connection 105C to the retailer104. The content network 102 may access the data processed by theservers 106 and stored in the data warehouse 108 directly or through aninterface via the retailer 104. The information from the customeractivity may be indicated by data representing: product areas visited bythe customer 130, duration of visits by the customer 130 to therespective product areas, product brands evaluated by the customer 130in the respective product areas, purchase activity conducted by thecustomer 130, and the like.

The various tracking activities in the particular retail store 111 maybe facilitated through a variety of wireless communication devices andprotocols. For example, the tracking activities may be facilitated byoperations of one or more consumer computing devices (such as asmartphone, tablet, portable computer, or wearable device) that executesoftware to interact with the tracking ecosystem. The trackingactivities may be provided in connection with a software applicationoperating on the consumer computing device, execution of a softwareapplication as a background process on the consumer computing device, orfunctionality built into the operating system of the consumer computingdevice. In other examples, a dedicated device may be provided to orstationed near the customer 130. For example, each trackable customer inthe retail environment may operate a computing device at or adjacent tohis or her respective location, that directly or indirectly provides thelocation of the computing device (and the customer) relative to anaccess point, beacon, radio frequency identifier, or the like. Exampletracking implementations using Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and RFID/NFCtechnologies are further discussed below.

Bluetooth. The term “Bluetooth” as used herein refers to a short-rangedigital communication protocol, which may provide a short-haul wirelessprotocol frequency-hopping spread-spectrum (FHSS) communicationtechnique that operates in the 2.4 GHz spectrum. The Bluetooth protocolmay operate according to a standard established by the Bluetooth SpecialInterest Group (SIG). A standard Bluetooth exchange permits devicestypically within 30 feet of a transponder to receive and/or send data(with a maximum possible range for non-experimental deployments beingless than 50 m). However, a requesting device typically must opt-in toreceive services from the transponder—a process known as “pairing”.

One specific implementation of Bluetooth for proximity detection andtracking involves the use of Bluetooth beacons, for example theimplementation of Bluetooth beacons known as “iBeacons”. iBeaconsoperate using the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol (e.g., as defined in theBluetooth 4.0 specification), through the use of a low-power wirelesssensor beacon used to communicate information to a nearby wirelessdevice. A wireless device may detect such beacons in some configurationsfor up to a 200 foot range. Wireless devices may be configured to set upand establish a connection with particular beacons without needing toperform a full Bluetooth pairing process.

Proximity detection in a retail environment may utilize Bluetooth fortracking portable computing devices such as mobile smartphonessupporting Bluetooth communications. For example, a software applicationmay opt in to communicate with a particular set of Bluetooth beacons ina retail environment. In other examples, the operating system of theportable computing device may opt in to particular advertising networksor beacon groups. The communications with these Bluetooth beacons may beused to determine proximity to a particular location. In furtherexamples, triangulation or trilateration of device locations may beperformed with the use of additional antennas and beacon sources.

Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi refers to the standard operation of a protocol from theIEEE 802.11 family of wireless network protocol standards, implementedwithin standards such as IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax. Many implementationsutilize service discovery techniques to discover access points in range.For example, the wireless device may periodically probe nearby wirelessnetworks with probe request frames. From these probe request frames, thedevice's identifying MAC address is broadcast to listening access pointsand other devices in range. In addition, a device's MAC address may bebroadcast to listening access points even if connected to another accesspoint, because frame headers that accompany encrypted or unencrypteddata payloads can identify the device's MAC address. In other scenarios,device identifiers may be determined in connection with triangulation ofmessages that are transmitted from a client device during Wi-Fi accesspoint scanning procedures, DHCP connection establishment, and theextraction of data headers being exchanged with other Wi-Fi accesspoints and networks.

Device-identifying data may be collected by routers and networkingequipment regardless of whether the client device has requested todirectly join or search for the Wi-Fi network. Such identifying data maybe collected by a tracking system and triangulated to identify thephysical location of the client based on the timestamp delays andoffsets collected by multiple routers, and time of flight calculationsbased on the collected data. Other techniques such as signal strength,directional antennas, and response times may also be used in connectionwith Wi-Fi triangulation or trilateration techniques. In addition,identifying data obtained from other messages used in established Wi-Ficonnections and broadcasts may be utilized for tracking purposes. Insome examples, the device-identifying data is provided only on an opt-inbasis; in other examples, opt-out functionality is provided with amechanism to prevent transmission or collection of device-identifyingdata.

Near Field Communication (NFC) and Radio Frequency Identification(RFID). NFC refers to protocols and data exchange standards involvingthe use of RFID communication chips. NFC may be used for two-waycommunication between endpoints to exchange data. In contrast, otheruses of RFID chips may be one-way communications (e.g., to obtain anidentifier from a RFID tag mounted at a particular location that must beprocessed further).

Proximity detection in a retail store may be performed using acombination of NFC exchanges associated with a communication device inproximity to a particular identifiable location. Proximity detection mayalso be performed through detection of RFID tags associated with aparticular identifiable location in the retail environment. NFC and RFIDtechnologies may also be used to provide a more precise mechanism oflocation once a device's location has been triangulated to a particulararea or subset of a store with Wi-Fi or Bluetooth wirelesscommunications.

FIG. 2 provides an enhanced illustration of communication activities 200occurring among a customer mobile computing device and a customertracking system, based on customer activity in a real-world retailenvironment according to a further example. For the communicationactivities 200, various communication networks (e.g., wireless datanetworks) exchange data to interact with customer devices such as acustomer mobile computing device 210, to result in the collection ofdata by a customer tracking system 220 and a customer activityprocessing system 240. Again, the customer mobile computing device 210may include a smartphone, dedicated device, wearable device, or otherelectronic device or medium that can be used to uniquely identify andtrack a location of a particular person and his or her activity within atracked environment (e.g., tracking the customer shopping activitywithin the retail location).

As shown, a customer mobile computing device 210, operated by acustomer, is configured to exchange wireless communications with one ormore beacons (e.g., Bluetooth beacon 1 202, Bluetooth beacon 2 204,Bluetooth beacon 3 206, and Bluetooth beacon 4 208) located throughoutthe tracked environment. In addition to communications with the one ormore beacons, the customer mobile computing device 210 may interact withother location identification devices such as an NFC device 214 (e.g.,an active RFID device) or an RFID tag (e.g., a passive RFID device). Thebeacons 202, 204, 206, 208 are able to communicate with a plurality ofmobile devices to identify locations of the respective devices.

The data collection functions for tracking the visited location(s) ofthe client device may be performed by the respective beacons (e.g., witha data connection between the various beacons and the customer trackingsystem). The data collection functions may also be performed as a resultof information provided to a customer tracking system 220 via aninternet connection 216 with the customer mobile computing device 210,such as a Wi-Fi WLAN or 3G/4G WWAN internet connection. For example, thecustomer mobile computing device 210 may retrieve a unique identifier(e.g., a value represented in a token 212) from a respective beacon, andpass this token 212 to the customer tracking system 220 via the internetconnection 216.

The identification of the value in a token 212 or another uniqueidentifier from a Bluetooth beacon may be used to determine a locationof the customer mobile computing device 210 within the retailenvironment. For example, the customer tracking system 220 may storecustomer tracking data 230 that includes data for the various locationidentifiers (e.g., tokens), in relationship to activity or time data.The customer tracking data 230 may be used to provide raw, filtered, orprocessed data indicating activity by the customer at a particular timeand location, based on a location identifier, device identifier,activity or time data, or similar information.

The identification of a location value in a token 212 or another uniqueidentifier from the Bluetooth beacon also may be used to correlate useractivity with specific activity types or categories in a retailenvironment. For example, this correlation may be used to determineactivity by the customer associated with the customer mobile computingdevice 210 within the retail environment relative to some fixedlocation, grid, or map of the retail environment. For example, thecustomer activity processing system 240 may factor store layout data,beacon positioning, and customer profile data when analyzing thespecific customer activity within the tracked environment. Additionalfactors and data inputs for customer location tracking and activityprocessing may be considered in connection with operations of thecustomer tracking system 220 and customer activity processing system240.

FIG. 3 illustrates interactions of a mobile computing device 302 withcustomer tracking and content delivery systems to access content in abeacon-based media network according to an example. As shown, the mobilecomputing device 302 operates a software application 304 presenting auser interface. This software (e.g., an app provided by a retailer)operates to interact with various beacons in a tracked environment, suchas Location A beacon 312 and Location B beacon 314 positioned within amonitored retail environment. The separate interactions with the beaconat Location A and the beacon at location B serves to differentiate userinteraction and activity between the two locations of the trackedenvironment.

As a result of the interaction between the mobile computing device 302and the Location A beacon 312 and the Location B beacon 314, trackingdata is transferred to a customer tracking system 330. For example, thetracking data may include a unique device identifier (e.g., anidentifier unique to the mobile computing device 302) and a locationidentifier (e.g., an identifier unique to the specific visited beaconsuch as Location A beacon 312). As shown, a device identifier 316 andlocation identifier 318 may be communicated to the customer trackingsystem 330 by the respective beacons 312, 314 as a result of interactionwith the mobile computing device 302 detected by the beacon(s); similarform of the device identifier 322 and location identifier 324 may becommunicated to the customer tracking system 330 from the mobilecomputing device 302 via a mobile communication network 320 (e.g., aWi-Fi or 3G/4G data network).

The customer tracking system 330 operates to perform device locationtracking functionality 332 as a result of processing the deviceidentifier 316 or 322 and location identifiers 318 or 324. The customertracking system 330 operates to correlate the device location with storemapping functionality 334, for example, to correlate a specific locationof the mobile device with a particular section, zone, area, display,product, service, brand, or feature of the retail environment. The storemapping functionality may use elements of a store map, planogram,coordinate listing, or other layout or plan to correlate an identifieddevice location to some known feature of the retail environment.

In a similar fashion, the customer activity system 340 operates toprovide user identification functionality 342 and user activitycorrelation functionality 344. The user identification functionality 342operates to identity a specific user/customer or profile of theuser/customer based on a device identifier 346, such as may be retrievedon request from a content system 350. The user activity correlationfunctionality 344 operates to correlate a specific set of activities inthe tracked environment with a specific user/customer as identified by adevice identifier 346. The customer activity system 340 may furtheroperate to provide the customer activity directly to the content system350, or provide the information in the form of profile information 348that allows a representation of the customer (such as interest oractivity relative to certain brands, products, activities) with orwithout raw activity or tracking data.

FIG. 3 further illustrates the data operations to access customizedinformation from the content system 350 (e.g., a media network such asis designed for serving advertisements or other media content) as aresult of the previous user activity in the tracked environment. Forexample, the software application 304 may provide a device identifier364 to the content system 350 as part of a request for location- anduser activity-customized advertisements.

The content system 350 includes content selection functionality 352 thatoperates to determine the most appropriate content based on prior useractivity tracked with the mobile computing device. The content selectionfunctionality 352 operates to select information based on the deviceidentifier 364, according to correlation with customer activity in thetracked environment and related profile information 348. For example,the content system 350 may select information from the customer activitysystem 340 based on the device identifier 346 which is associated withparticular customer activities, events, and profile information. (Thecustomer activity system 340 may directly return customer activityinformation data, or processed information such as the profileinformation 348).

The content system 350 further includes content delivery functionality354 that operates to deliver the location-selected content 366 to themobile computing device 302 via a mobile communication network 362. Thelocation-selected content 366 may be directly displayed within the userinterface of the software application 304 or may be further customized,refined, or processed within the software application 304, or withinfeatures of the mobile computing device 302 operating system.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example scenario of accessing locationactivity-customized content in a beacon-based media network using asoftware application 410 operating on a mobile computing device 402,according to an example. The software application 410 operates on themobile computing device 402 with a user interface 412 for userinteraction and control of the software application 410, as may beembodied by a software application of a retailer, for example. Thesoftware application 410 also includes tracking functionality 414 toindicate the location of the mobile device, such as within a retailenvironment. The tracking functionality 414 for example can interactwith beacons, tags, access points, and like tracking devices to interactwith tracking sources. The data from the tracking devices may becollected as tracking data 432, and include at least one trackingidentifier or data field. Next, operations are performed in a remotetracking system to perform a correlation 434 of a device session anddevice profile to visited tracked environment locations (e.g., ocationswithin a store), based on the detected location of the mobile devicewithin the tracked environment.

As a result of the correlation 434, a selection of digital content 435is determined based on the activity in the visited tracked environmentlocation(s). This selection of digital content 435 is initiated as aresult of content retrieval 436 from the application 410, for example,from a request to obtain an advertisement placement 416 within theapplication 410. The selection of digital content 435 provides contentcorrelated to the location identifier 438 and other tracking and profiledata indicators, resulting in a delivery to the application 410.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example scenario of accessing location-customizedcontent in a beacon-based media network using multiple softwareapplications, a first software application 410 (e.g., relating toretailer shopping functionality) and a second software application 420(e.g., relating to sports, weather, entertainment functionality), eachoperating on a mobile computing device 402, according to an example. Thefirst software application 410 operates to provide tracking data to atracking system, while the second software application 420 operates toaccess media content that is selected based on the tracking data.

As shown, the first software application 410 operates on the mobilecomputing device 402 and includes a user interface 412 for userinteraction and control of the first software application, as may beembodied by a software application of a retailer, for example. The firstsoftware application 410 also includes tracking functionality 414 toindicate the location of the mobile device, for example, within a retailenvironment. In an example, tracking data 442 in the form of a uniquedevice identifier and a location identifier (e.g., a beacon identifier)is provided to a remote tracking system from the tracking functionality414. In an example, the tracking data includes a unique identificationtoken issued for the device, the location, the user, or a combination ofthe device, location, and user.

Within the remote tracking system, the tracking data 442 (such as theunique device identifier or the token) is analyzed to perform acorrelation 444 of the particular mobile computing device to one or morevisited retail environment locations. This correlation 444 is used tofacilitate a selection of digital content 445 based on the one or morevisited retail environment locations. The selection of digital content445 may include information on the type of content, metadata for thecontent, or the content itself. A set of content 448 delivered for themobile computing device is correlated to the one or more visited retailenvironment locations, for example, on the basis of a locationidentifier.

The set of content 448 delivered for the mobile computing device isretrieved for display or output within the second software application420, for example, as an advertising placement 424 within a userinterface 422 of the second software application 420. This advertisingplacement 424 may be interactive, and manually or automatically launchedin response to user activity in the second software application 420. Insome examples, other fields of tracking and location information (e.g.,collected and retrieved from the first software application 410) may belocally stored on the mobile computing device 402 and used for furthercustomization or refinement of the content displayed within the secondsoftware application 420. Also in some examples, the fields of trackingand location information are correlated to advertising network uses formobile advertising platforms such as Apple's iAd, Google's AdMob orAdSense, or like targeted media platforms.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method 500 performed by a mobile computingdevice for content retrieval in a beacon-based media network accordingto an example described herein. The method 500 may be implemented inhardware or software within one or more electronic systems; and in someexamples, the operations of method 500 may be split across multipleentities. For example, the method 500 may be embodied by anon-transitory machine-readable medium including instructions, or one ormore data processing, communication, and display components implementedin connection with a hardware processor and a memory. Accordingly, itwill be understood that the method 500 may be implemented with acomputerized or electronic process that involves minimal or no humaninteraction.

As illustrated, the method 500 for content retrieval includes operationsto obtain (e.g., retrieve, access, or identify) location data from abeacon, RFID tag, wireless network, or other electronically readable orcommunicable source (operation 502). This location data may be processedby the mobile computing device and used in connection withdevice-specific and application-specific activity, including informationas indicated by user preferences, user profiles, and device-specificinformation. The mobile computing device (or in other examples, thebeacon) operates to transmit an identifier of the mobile computingdevice (operation 504) and transmit the location data (operation 506) toa tracking system.

The method 500 further operates to request content from the beacon-basedmedia network (operation 508) on the basis of the mobile computingdevice identifier and the location data. In response to the request forcontent, the mobile computing device receives content from thebeacon-based media network (operation 510), the content being selectedbased on the communicated location data (and, in some examples, alsobased on the mobile device identifier or known information about thedevice or user).

In response to receiving the content from the beacon-based medianetwork, further processing may be performed on the content. Forexample, the received content may be further selected, processed, andrefined, such as in response to user preferences, an advertisingprofile, or settings on the mobile device. Further, in response toreceiving the content, the received content is displayed on the mobilecomputing device (operation 512). The received content may be displayedwithin a portion of a software application, within a user interface ofthe operating system, within a media player, or within like displayinterfaces.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example method 600 performed by tracking andcontent selection subsystems for content delivery in a beacon-basedmedia network according to a further example. The method 600 may beimplemented in hardware or software within one or more electronicsystems (and as steps in substitute or addition to those of FIG. 5); andin some examples the operations of method 600 may be split acrossmultiple entities. The method 600 may be embodied by a non-transitorymachine-readable medium including instruction, or one or more dataprocessing, communication, tracking, and delivery components implementedin connection with a hardware processor and a memory. Accordingly, itwill be understood that the method 600 may be implemented with acomputerized or electronic process that involves minimal or no humaninteraction.

As illustrated, the method 600 for content delivery includes operationto receive, process, and facilitate delivery of information to a mobiledevice. As shown, information originates from a mobile device and abeacon, in the form of operations to receive a device identifier from amobile device (operation 602) and to receive a location identifieroriginating from a beacon (operation 604). For example, the beaconidentifier may be recorded by a mobile device and communicated to atracking system.

The method 600 further operates to determine a location of the mobiledevice in a tracked environment (e.g., a retail store) using thelocation identifier that originates from the beacon (operation 606).This location of the mobile device in the tracked environment isassociated with identified activity of the particular customer or devicein one or more particular locations of the tracked environment(operation 608). For example, the association between the mobile devicelocation and the activity in the tracked environment may occur based onknown characteristics of the beacon and the type of activity expected tooccur there.

The information system can further operate to facilitate the selectionof content based on the known location and activity of the mobilecomputing device in the tracked environment (operation 610). Based onthis selection of content, the information system can further operate tofacilitate the delivery of the selected content to the mobile computingdevice (operation 612) (in the same or another mobile application, or inanother format) such as through the display of an advertisement in asoftware application.

FIG. 7 illustrates a block diagram of a computing system 700 withprocessing components adapted for interaction with a beacon-based medianetwork according to a further example. The computing system 700 mayinclude a processor, memory, operating system, and user input interfaceto operate and provide interaction with the beacon-based media networkand associated devices, systems, and implementations. The computingsystem 700 may be implemented within one or a plurality of computersystem devices, at one or multiple locations, and be implemented inconnection with features of remote or cloud-based processing functions.

The computing system 700 is configured to implement a plurality ofmodules or components for device tracking, content retrieval, andcontent display according to the functionality described above. Thecomputing system 700 is also configured to implement and maintain aplurality of data stores for storing data used to provide the trackingfunctionality described above. A description of the following modulesand data sources follows, but it will be understood that functionalityand operation of the various data sources and modules may beconsolidated into fewer or expanded into additional data sources ormodules.

The computing system 700 is depicted as including: a device informationdata store 702 for storing or maintaining device information such as aunique identifier of the computing system; a location information datastore 704 for storing or maintaining location information such as anidentifier of a detected beacon, or location data received from one ormore Wi-Fi access points; an profile information data store 706 forstoring user identification information and user profile information;and a content interaction data store 708 for storing or maintainingcontent information such as received media content, content preferences,or content data on the mobile computing device. Additional data storesmay also be used to track, persist, maintain, and track data involved inthe tracking and media output functions described herein.

The computing system 700 is also depicted as including a series ofmodules or components providing functionality for implementing thefeatures of a client system for interaction with a tracking system. Themodules or components depicted include: a beacon tracking module 720used for detecting and communicating with beacon devices such asBluetooth Low Energy or NFC beacon devices; a triangulation/locationidentification module 730 used for calculating a position of the mobilecomputing device in the tracked physical environment, such as relativeto a plurality of Wi-Fi access points; a device identification module740 used for providing an identifier unique to the mobile computingdevice to the device tracking system; a user identification module 750used for providing identifying information to the device tracking systemthat is unique to a user of the mobile computing device; a user profilemodule 760 used for providing information to the device tracking systemthat is unique to a user profile of the user; a user interaction module770 used for tracking customer or device interactions with shopping orcommercial activities in the retail environment; a content retrievalmodule 780 used for retrieving content from the media network that istargeted to the customer; and a content display module 790 used todisplay the media content.

Although the preceding examples were provided with reference to the useof Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology, it will be understood that a varietyof other location, tracking, and positioning systems may also be used tofacilitate customer tracking, content selection, and content delivery.For example, other types of device positioning tracking technologies maybe used to track particular devices and persons. Further, the trackingtechnologies as deployed in a retail environment may be integrated withvarious retail informatics and analytics services to provide anadditional customization of content to the mobile device users. Further,it will be understood that the techniques and components describedherein may be applied to a variety of consumer mobile devices, and arenot limited to smartphones with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities.

FIG. 8 provides an example illustration of a mobile device 800 that maybe used in connection with the tracking and information outputtechniques described herein, such as a personal communication device, atablet, a handset, a smartphone, or other type of mobilewireless-capable device. The mobile device 800 may include one or moreantennas 808 within housing 802 that are configured to communicate witha base station (BS), a Long Term Evolution (LTE) evolved NodeB (eNodeB),or other type of wireless wide area network (WWAN) access point. Themobile device 800 may be configured to communicate using at least onewireless communication standard including 3GPP LTE/LTE-Advanced, WiMAX,High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi. The mobile device800 may communicate using separate antennas for each wirelesscommunication standard or shared antennas for multiple wirelesscommunication standards. The mobile device 800 may communicate in awireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network(WPAN), or a WWAN.

FIG. 8 also provides an illustration of a microphone 820 and one or morespeakers 812 that may be used for audio input and output from the mobiledevice 800. The display screen 804 may be a liquid crystal display (LCD)screen, or other type of display screen such as an organic lightemitting diode (OLED) display. The display screen 804 may be configuredas a touch screen. The touch screen may use capacitive, resistive, oranother type of touch screen technology. An application processor 814and a graphics processor 818 may be coupled to internal memory 816 toprovide processing and display capabilities. A non-volatile memory port810 may also be used to provide data input/output options to a user. Thenon-volatile memory port 810 may also be used to expand the memorycapabilities of the mobile device 800. A keyboard 806 may be integratedwith the mobile device 800 or wirelessly connected to the mobile device800 to provide additional user input. A virtual keyboard may also beprovided using the touch screen.

The display screen 804 may generate a graphical user interface on themobile device in connection with the techniques described herein, foroutput of information such as advertisements, audiovisual content,promotional information, and the like. The mobile device 800 may operatewith various types of user controls in order to interface and controlthe output of the information. Consistent with the tracking techniquesdescribed herein, the mobile device 800 may also include furtherfunctionality such as wireless network circuitry and processing softwarein order to communicate with specialized wireless network trackingdevices and systems.

Embodiments used to facilitate and perform the techniques describedherein may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware,and software. Embodiments may also be implemented as instructions storedon a machine-readable storage medium (e.g., a storage device), which maybe read and executed by at least one processor to perform the operationsdescribed herein. A machine-readable storage medium may include anynon-transitory mechanism for storing information in a form readable by amachine (e.g., a computer). For example, a machine-readable storagedevice may include read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM),magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash-memorydevices, and other storage devices and media.

FIG. 9 illustrates a block diagram illustrating a machine in the exampleform of a computer system 900, within which a set or sequence ofinstructions may be executed to cause the machine to perform any one ofthe methodologies discussed herein, according to an example. Computersystem machine 900 may be embodied by the electronic processing systemsimplemented by the servers 102, 106, and data warehouse 108; the devices132, 210, 304, 402; the access points 122A, 122B, 122C; the beacons124A, 124B, 124C, 124D, 124E, 202, 204, 206, 208; the content andtracking systems 220, 240, 330, 340, 350; the subsystem(s) implementingthe data stores 702, 704, 706, 708; the subsystem(s) implementing thevarious modules or components 720, 730, 740, 750, 760, 770, 780, 790; orany other electronic processing or computing platform described orreferred to herein.

Example computer system 900 includes at least one processor 902 (e.g., acentral processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU) or both,processor cores, compute nodes, etc.), a main memory 904 and a staticmemory 906, which communicate with each other via an interconnect 908(e.g., a link, a bus, etc.). The computer system 900 may further includea video display unit 910, an alphanumeric input device 912 (e.g., akeyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device 914 (e.g., amouse). In one embodiment, the video display unit 910, input device 912and UI navigation device 914 are incorporated into a touchscreeninterface and touchscreen display. The computer system 900 mayadditionally include a storage device 916 (e.g., a drive unit), a signalgeneration device 918 (e.g., a speaker), an output controller 932, anetwork interface device 920 (which may include or operably communicatewith one or more antennas 930, transceivers, or other wirelesscommunications hardware), and one or more sensors 926, such as a globalpositioning system (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, locationsensor, or other sensor.

The storage device 916 includes a machine-readable medium 922 on whichis stored one or more sets of data structures and instructions 924(e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of themethodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 924 mayalso reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory904, static memory 906, and/or within the processor 902 during executionthereof by the computer system 900, with the main memory 904, staticmemory 906, and the processor 902 also constituting machine-readablemedia.

While the machine-readable medium 922 is illustrated in an exampleembodiment to be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” mayinclude a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized ordistributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that storethe one or more instructions 924. The term “machine-readable medium”shall also be taken to include any tangible medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machineand that cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies of the present disclosure or that is capable of storing,encoding or carrying data structures utilized by or associated with suchinstructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly betaken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, andoptical and magnetic media. Specific examples of machine-readable mediainclude non-volatile memory, including but not limited to, by way ofexample, semiconductor memory devices (e.g., electrically programmableread-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EEPROM)) and flash memory devices; magnetic disks such asinternal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; andCD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

The instructions 924 may further be transmitted or received over acommunications network 928 using a transmission medium via the networkinterface device 920 utilizing any one of a number of well-knowntransfer protocols (e.g., HTTP), Examples of communication networksinclude a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), theInternet, mobile telephone networks, plain old telephone (POTS)networks, and wireless data networks (e.g., Wi-Fi, 2G/3G, and 4GLTE/LTE-A or WiMAX networks). The term “transmission medium” shall betaken to include any intangible medium that is capable of storing,encoding, or carrying instructions for execution by the machine, andincludes digital or analog communications signals or other intangiblemedium to facilitate communication of such software.

Additional examples of the presently described method, system, anddevice embodiments include the following, non-limiting configurations.Each of the following non-limiting examples may stand on its own, or maybe combined in any permutation or combination with any one or more ofthe other examples provided below or throughout the present disclosure.

Example 1 includes subject matter (such as a method, means forperforming acts, machine readable medium including instructions thatwhen performed by a machine cause the machine to performs acts, or anapparatus to perform) comprising: providing, from a first softwareapplication to a device tracking system, an identifier unique to amobile computing device, the device tracking system performing atracking of location data for the mobile computing device obtainedwithin a tracked physical environment; receiving, in a second softwareapplication from a media content network system, media content selectedfor the mobile computing device, the media content network systemselecting the media content for the mobile computing device based on theidentifier unique to the mobile computing device and the location datafor the mobile computing device within the tracked physical environment;and displaying the media content selected for the mobile computingdevice in the second software application.

In Example 2, the subject matter of Example 1 may include, wherein thedisplaying of the media content in the second software applicationoccurs at a subsequent time outside of the tracked physical environment.

In Example 3, the subject matter of any one of Examples 1 to 2 mayinclude, transmitting, to the device tracking system, the location datafor the mobile computing device obtained by the mobile computing devicewithin the tracked physical environment.

In Example 4, the subject matter of any one of Examples 1 to 3 mayinclude, retrieving a unique location identifier from a Bluetooth LowEnergy beacon or an RFID tag; wherein the location data transmitted tothe device tracking system includes the unique location identifier.

In Example 5, the subject matter of any one of Examples 1 to 4 mayinclude, receiving network information from a plurality of Wi-Fi accesspoints operating according to an IEEE 802.11 protocol; wherein thelocation data transmitted to the device tracking system includes thenetwork information from the plurality of Wi-Fi access points, thenetwork information used in triangulation of the mobile computing devicein the tracked physical environment relative to the plurality of Wi-Fiaccess points.

In Example 6, the subject matter of any one of Examples 1 to 5 mayinclude, wherein providing the identifier unique to the mobile computingdevice includes transmitting the identifier from the mobile computingdevice to a beacon connected to the device tracking system.

In Example 7, the subject matter of any one of Examples 1 to 6 mayinclude, wherein the tracked physical environment is a retail store,wherein the location data is correlated by the device tracking system toat least one section of the retail store, and wherein the media contentis selected for the mobile computing device based on a visit of themobile computing device within the at least one section of the retailstore.

In Example 8, the subject matter of any one of Examples 1 to 7 mayinclude, wherein the media content is further selected for the mobilecomputing device based on a duration of the visit of the mobilecomputing device within the at least one section of the retail store.

In Example 9, the subject matter of any one of Examples 1 to 8 mayinclude, wherein the media content is an advertisement, theadvertisement further selected for the mobile computing device based onthe visit of the mobile computing device within the at least one sectionof the retail store and at least one additional demographic factorstored for a user of the mobile computing device.

In Example 10, the subject matter of any one of Examples 1 to 9 mayinclude, wherein the media content is an advertisement, and whereindisplaying the media content is automatically performed during use ofthe second software application outside of the tracked physicalenvironment.

Example 11 includes subject matter (implemented in a machine such as adevice, apparatus, or system) configured to execute instructions with amobile computing device that: detect, from operation of a first softwareapplication on the mobile computing device, a location identifier for abeacon, the location identifier provided as a unique identification of amapped portion of a physical area; receive, from the content medianetwork, content information that is selected for the mobile computingdevice based on the location identifier for the beacon; and provide, fordisplay in a second software application on the mobile computing device,the content information retrieved from the content media network.

In Example 12, the subject matter of Example 11 may include, wherein thelocation identifier is provided to a tracking system, the instructionsfurther causing the mobile computing device to: transmit, to the contentmedia network, the location identifier for the beacon; and transmit, tothe content media network, a unique device identifier, wherein theunique device identifier is associated by the content media network withthe location identifier, and wherein the content information that isreceived from the content media network is further received based on theunique device identifier.

In Example 13, the subject matter of any one of Examples 11 to 12 mayinclude, the instructions further causing the mobile computing deviceto: store the location identifier on the mobile computing device; andprovide the location identifier to the second software application;wherein the second software application requests the content informationfrom the content media network using the location identifier.

In Example 14, the subject matter of any one of Examples 11 to 13 mayinclude, the instructions further causing the mobile computing deviceto: enable display of the media content in the second softwareapplication when the mobile computing device is outside of the mappedportion of the physical area.

In Example 15, the subject matter of any one of Examples 11 to 14 mayinclude, the instructions further causing the mobile computing deviceto: receive, with operation of the first software application, thelocation identifier for the beacon from a Bluetooth Low Energy beacon oran NFC device, the beacon located within the mapped portion of thephysical area; and transmit, with operation of the second softwareapplication, the location identifier for the beacon to the content medianetwork, wherein the content information is received from the contentmedia network in the second software application in response totransmitting the location identifier for the beacon.

In Example 16, the subject matter of any one of Examples 11 to 15 mayinclude, the instructions further causing the mobile computing deviceto: receive network information from a plurality of Wi-Fi access pointsoperating according to an IEEE 802.11 protocol; and transmit, to thecontent media network, the network information, wherein the networkinformation is used in triangulation of the mobile computing device inthe mapped portion of the physical area relative to the plurality ofWi-Fi access points.

In Example 17, the subject matter of any one of Examples 11 to 16 mayinclude, wherein the physical area is a retail store, wherein the uniqueidentification of a mapped portion of a physical area is correlated to asection of the retail store, and wherein the media content is selectedfor the mobile computing device based on a visit of the mobile computingdevice within the section of the retail store, and wherein the contentinformation is further selected for the mobile computing device based ona duration of the visit of the mobile computing device within thesection of the retail store.

Example 18 includes subject matter (such as a device, apparatus, ormachine) comprising: a processor; a tracking module in operation withthe processor, the tracking module operable with a first softwareapplication to provide data unique to a visit of the mobile computingdevice within a tracked physical environment to a device trackingsystem, wherein the device tracking system tracks location data for themobile computing device obtained within a tracked physical environment;a content retrieval module in operation with the processor, the contentretrieval module operable with a second software application to retrievemedia content for the mobile computing device, the media contentselected for the mobile computing device based on the identifier uniqueto the mobile computing device and the location data for the mobilecomputing device within the tracked physical environment; and a contentdisplay module in operation with the processor, the content displaymodule operable with the second software application to display themedia content within the second software application.

In Example 19, the subject matter of Example 18 may include, a deviceidentification module in operation with the processor, the deviceidentification module operable with the first software application toobtain an identifier unique to the mobile computing device and providethe identifier unique to the mobile computing device to the devicetracking system.

In Example 20, the subject matter of any one of Examples 18 to 19 mayinclude, a user identification module in operation with the processor,the user identification module to provide information to the devicetracking system that is unique to a user of the mobile computing device.

In Example 21, the subject matter of any one of Examples 18 to 20 mayinclude, a user profile module in operation with the processor, the userprofile module to provide information to the device tracking system thatis unique to a user profile associated with a user of the mobilecomputing device.

In Example 22, the subject matter of any one of Examples 18 to 21 mayinclude, wherein the tracking module is further to receive an identifierfrom a Bluetooth Low Energy beacon and transmit the identifier from theBluetooth Low Energy beacon to the device tracking system, theidentifier from the Bluetooth Low Energy beacon included in the dataunique to the visit of the mobile computing device within the trackedphysical environment.

In Example 23, the subject matter of any one of Examples 18 to 22 mayinclude, a location identification module, the location identificationmodule to calculate a position of the mobile computing device in thetracked physical environment.

In Example 24, the subject matter of any one of Examples 18 to 23 mayinclude, wherein the location identification module is further todetermine a location of the mobile computing device within the trackedphysical environment based on Wi-Fi positioning triangulation ortrilateration of the mobile computing device.

In Example 24, the subject matter of any one of Examples 18 to 23 mayinclude, wherein the location identification module is further todetermine a location of the mobile computing device within the trackedphysical environment based on Wi-Fi positioning triangulation ortrilateration of the mobile computing device.

Example 25 includes subject matter (such as a method, means forperforming acts, machine readable medium including instructions thatwhen performed by a machine cause the machine to performs acts, or anapparatus to perform) for customer targeting in a media network,performed by an information service, comprising: receiving, from amobile computing device located in a retail area, an identifier uniqueto the mobile computing device; determining a position of the mobilecomputing device within the retail area, based on one or moreinteractions of the mobile computing device with a broadcasting devicelocated in the retail area; associating the identifier unique to themobile computing device with the determined position of the mobilecomputing device in the retail area; and providing information to themedia network based on the position of the mobile computing device inthe retail area, the media network providing media content to the mobilecomputing device after the mobile computing device is no longer locatedin the retail area.

In Example 26, the subject matter of Examples 25 may include, whereindetermining the position of the mobile computing device in a retail areaincludes processing the one or more interactions of the mobile computingdevice with the broadcasting device; wherein associating the identifierunique to the mobile computing device with the position of the mobilecomputing device in the retail area includes associating the identifierunique to the mobile computing device with an identifier provided fromthe broadcasting device.

In Example 27, the subject matter of any one of Examples 25 to 26 mayinclude, wherein the broadcasting device is a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)beacon, the BLE beacon associated with a predetermined section of theretail area.

In Example 28, the subject matter of any one of Examples 25 to 27 mayinclude, wherein the broadcasting device is a Wi-Fi access pointoperating according to an IEEE 802.11 standard, wherein determining theposition of the mobile computing device in the retail area furtherincludes triangulating the position of the mobile computing device basedon multiple Wi-Fi access points in the retail area, the position of themobile computing device included within an identifiable portion in theretail area.

In Example 29, the subject matter of any one of Examples 25 to 28 mayinclude, requesting, from the mobile computing device, the identifierunique to the mobile computing device, wherein the identifier unique tothe mobile computing device is received in response to the requesting.

In Example 30, the subject matter of any one of Examples 25 to 29 mayinclude, selecting media content in the media network based on theposition of the mobile computing device in the retail area.

In Example 31, the subject matter of any one of Examples 25 to 30 mayinclude, identifying, from a unique identifier transmitted to theinformation service via the wireless communications network, a userassociated with the mobile computing device.

In Example 32, the subject matter of any one of Examples 25 to 31 mayinclude, tracking movement of the user associated with the mobilecomputing device in the retail area, the movement of the user determinedrelative to a plurality of defined locations in the retail area.

In Example 33, the subject matter of any one of Examples 25 to 32 mayinclude, wherein the plurality of defined locations in the retail arearespectively correspond to a plurality of product department zonesmapped for the retail area, wherein tracking movement of the userincludes tracking movement of the user among the plurality of productdepartment zones.

In Example 34, the subject matter of any one of Examples 25 to 33 mayinclude, wherein the user associated with the mobile computing device isa customer, wherein the mobile computing device is a smartphone of thecustomer, and wherein the one or more interactions of the mobilecomputing device with the broadcasting device located in the retail areaoccur in response to shopping activity by the user in the retail area.

In Example 35, the subject matter of any one of Examples 25 to 34 mayinclude, wherein the identifier unique to the mobile computing device isreceived in connection with operation of a first software applicationoperating on the mobile computing device, and wherein the media contentprovided to the mobile computing device is displayed in connection withoperation of a second software application operating on the mobilecomputing device.

In Example 36, the subject matter of any one of Examples 25 to 35 mayinclude, wherein determining the position of the mobile computing deviceis assisted by information obtained from one or both of a Bluetoothbeacon or a Near Field Communication (NFC) device, the Bluetooth beaconoperating according to a standard from a Bluetooth standards family, andthe NFC device operating according to an exchange of data with a RadioFrequency identifier (RFID) device.

In Example 37, the subject matter of any one of Examples 25 to 36 mayinclude, wherein the media content delivered to the mobile computingdevice is further customized based on a customer profile associated witha user of the mobile computing device, the customer profile maintainedby a retail operator entity.

In Example 38, the subject matter of any one of Examples 25 to 37 may beimplemented by a machine readable medium including instructions that,when performed by a machine, cause the machine to perform acts ofExamples 25 to 37.

In Example 39, the subject matter of any one of Examples 25 to 37 may beimplemented by an apparatus comprising means for performing the subjectmatter of Examples 25 to 37.

Example 40 includes subject matter (such as a device, apparatus, ormachine) comprising: a hardware processor and memory; a wireless networkcommunications transceiver; and a device tracking and interactioncomponent implemented using the hardware processor and the memory, thedevice tracking and interaction component configured to performoperations that: receive, from a mobile computing device, an identifierunique to the mobile computing device; determine a position of themobile computing device in a retail area; associate the identifierunique to the mobile computing device with the position of the mobilecomputing device in the retail area; and provide information for theposition in the retail area to the media network.

In Example 41, the subject matter of Example 40 may include, wherein thedevice tracking and interaction component is configured to communicatewith a mobile computing device, the mobile computing device configuredto establish a wireless network connection with the computing systemaccording to a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) network standard from an IEEE802.11 standards family.

In Example 42, the subject matter of any one of Examples 40 to 41 mayinclude, wherein the identifier unique to the mobile computing device isa MAC address, and wherein the device tracking and interaction componentis configured to triangulate and track the position of the mobilecomputing device on an ongoing basis based on measurements performedwith communications that include the MAC address.

In Example 43, the subject matter of any one of Examples 40 to 42 mayinclude, the device tracking and interaction component furtherconfigured to perform operations that: receive an identified position ofthe mobile computing device relative to a fixed display in the retailarea, the fixed display including an Bluetooth beacon operatingaccording to a standard from a Bluetooth standards family.

In Example 44, the subject matter of any one of Examples 40 to 43 mayinclude, the device tracking and interaction component also configuredto perform operations that: receive an identified position of the mobilecomputing device relative to a fixed display in the retail area, thefixed display including an NFC device operating according to an exchangeof data from a Radio Frequency Identifier (RFID) device.

Additional examples of the presently described method, system, anddevice embodiments include the configurations recited by the claims.Each of the examples in the claims may stand on its own, or may becombined in any permutation or combination with any one or more of theother examples provided below or throughout the present disclosure.

1-24. (canceled)
 25. A method for obtaining location-based content for amobile computing device, the method performed by the mobile computingdevice, and the method comprising: communicating, to a device trackingsystem, a location identifier and an identifier unique to the mobilecomputing device, the location identifier being obtained from a sourcewithin a mapped physical environment while the mobile computing deviceis in wireless communication range of the source, wherein the devicetracking system tracks locations of the mobile computing device in themapped physical environment based at least in part on the locationidentifier; communicating the identifier unique to the mobile computingdevice, from a software application of the mobile computing device to anetwork content system, wherein the identifier is communicated to thenetwork content system when the mobile computing device is locatedoutside of the wireless communication range of the source; obtainingcontent from the network content system, using the software application,wherein the content network system selects the content based on theidentifier unique to the mobile computing device, and wherein thecontent network system further selects the content based on activityinformation from the mapped physical environment, the activityinformation determined based at least in part on the location identifierpreviously provided while the mobile computing device was in wirelesscommunication range of the source; and outputting the content selectedfor the mobile computing device in the software application, wherein theoutputting of the content in the software application occurs while themobile computing device is located outside wireless communication rangeof the source; wherein the activity information from the mapped physicalenvironment is provided from the device tracking system to the networkcontent system without communications from the mobile computing device.26. The method of claim 25, further comprising: obtaining the locationidentifier from the source within the mapped physical environment, thelocation identifier received while the mobile computing device is inrange of the source.
 27. The method of claim 26, wherein the source is awireless personal area network beacon or an RFID tag, and wherein thelocation identifier includes a unique location identifier of the beaconor the tag.
 28. The method of claim 25, wherein transmission of thelocation identifier and the identifier unique to the mobile computingdevice is performed by an operating system or another softwareapplication of the mobile computing device, the operating system or theanother software application operating separately from the softwareapplication.
 29. The method of claim 25, further comprising:communicating, to the device tracking system, location data that isobtained by the mobile computing device within the mapped physicalenvironment while the mobile computing device is in wirelesscommunication range of the source.
 30. The method of claim 29, furthercomprising: obtaining network information from a plurality of wirelesslocal area network access points operating according to a wireless localarea network protocol; wherein the location data transmitted to thedevice tracking system includes the network information from theplurality of wireless local area network access points, and wherein thenetwork information includes identifying data to triangulate ortrilaterate the mobile computing device in the mapped physicalenvironment relative to the plurality of wireless local area networkaccess points.
 31. The method of claim 25, wherein the mapped physicalenvironment includes at least one geofence, and wherein the outputtingof the content or the selection of the content is based on entry ormovement of the mobile computing device relative to the at least onegeofence.
 32. The method of claim 25, wherein the mapped physicalenvironment is a retail store, wherein the location identifier iscorrelated by the device tracking system to a location associated withat least one aspect of the retail store, wherein the content is selectedfor the mobile computing device based on a visit of the mobile computingdevice to the location associated with the at least one aspect of theretail store, and wherein the at least one aspect is provided fromamong: a section, zone, area, display, product, service, brand, orfeature within the retail store.
 33. The method of claim 32, wherein thecontent is further selected by the content network system for the mobilecomputing device based on a duration of the visit of the mobilecomputing device at the location associated with the at least aspect ofthe retail store.
 34. The method of claim 32, wherein the content isprovided in a message or notification, output in connection with thesoftware application, and wherein the message or notification iscustomized to the visit of the mobile computing device to the locationassociated with the at least one aspect of the retail store.
 35. Atleast one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium providinginstructions for obtaining location-based content from a network contentsystem, the medium comprising instructions, that when executed by amobile computing device, cause the mobile computing device to:communicate, to a device tracking system, a location identifier and anidentifier unique to the mobile computing device, the locationidentifier being obtained from a source within a mapped physicalenvironment while the mobile computing device is in wirelesscommunication range of the source, wherein the device tracking systemtracks locations of the mobile computing device in the mapped physicalenvironment based at least in part on the location identifier;communicate from a software application of the mobile computing device,to a network content system, the identifier unique to the mobilecomputing device, wherein the identifier is communicated to the networkcontent system when the mobile computing device is located outside ofthe wireless communication range of the source; obtain content from thenetwork content system, using the software application, wherein thecontent network system selects the content based on the identifierunique to the mobile computing device, and wherein the content networksystem further selects the content based on activity information fromthe mapped physical environment, the activity information determinedbased at least in part on the location identifier previously providedwhile the mobile computing device was in wireless communication range ofthe source; and output the content selected for the mobile computingdevice in the software application, wherein the outputting of thecontent in the software application occurs while the mobile computingdevice is located outside wireless communication range of the source;wherein the activity information from the mapped physical environment isprovided from the device tracking system to the network content systemwithout communications from the mobile computing device.
 36. Themachine-readable storage medium of claim 35, the instructions furthercausing the mobile computing device to: receive the location identifierfrom the source within the mapped physical environment, the locationidentifier received while the mobile computing device is in range of thesource.
 37. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 36, wherein thesource is a wireless personal area network beacon or an RFID tag, andwherein the location identifier includes a unique location identifier ofthe beacon or the tag.
 38. The machine-readable storage medium of claim35, the instructions further causing the mobile computing device to:cause an operating system or another software application of the mobilecomputing device to communicate the location identifier and theidentifier unique to the mobile computing device, the operating systemor the another software application operating separately from thesoftware application.
 39. The machine-readable storage medium of claim35, the instructions further causing the mobile computing device to:communicate, to the device tracking system, location data that isobtained by the mobile computing device within the mapped physicalenvironment while the mobile computing device is in wirelesscommunication range of the source,
 40. The machine-readable storagemedium of claim 39, the instructions further causing the mobilecomputing device to: obtain network information from a plurality ofwireless local area network access points operating according to awireless local area network protocol; wherein the location datatransmitted to the device tracking system includes the networkinformation from the plurality of wireless local area network accesspoints, and wherein the network information includes identifying data totriangulate or trilaterate the mobile computing device in the mappedphysical environment relative to the plurality of wireless local areanetwork access points.
 41. The machine-readable storage medium of claim35, wherein the mapped physical environment includes at least onegeofence, and wherein the output of the content or the selection of thecontent is based on entry or movement of the mobile computing devicerelative to the at least one geofence.
 42. The machine-readable storagemedium of claim 35, wherein the mapped physical environment is a retailstore, wherein the location identifier is correlated by the devicetracking system to a location associated with at least one aspect of theretail store, wherein the content is selected for the mobile computingdevice based on a visit of the mobile computing device to the locationassociated with the at least one aspect of the retail store, and whereinthe at least one aspect is provided from among: a section, zone, area,display, product, service, brand, or feature within the retail store.43. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 42, wherein the contentis further selected by the content network system for the mobilecomputing device based on a duration of the visit of the mobilecomputing device at the location associated with the at least aspect ofthe retail store.
 44. The machine-readable storage medium of claim 42,wherein the content is provided in a message or notification, output inconnection with the software application, and wherein the message ornotification is customized to the visit of the mobile computing deviceto the location associated with the at least one aspect of the retailstore,
 45. An apparatus, comprising: means for obtaining a locationidentifier and an identifier unique to a mobile computing device, thelocation identifier being obtained from a source within a mappedphysical environment while the mobile computing device is in wirelesscommunication range of the source, wherein a device tracking systemtracks locations of the mobile computing device in the mapped physicalenvironment based at least in part on the location identifier; means forproviding the identifier unique to the mobile computing device to anetwork content system, based on use of a software application of themobile computing device at a subsequent time, wherein the identifier isprovided to the network content system when the mobile computing deviceis located outside of the wireless communication range of the source;means for obtaining content from the network content system, based onuse of the software application, wherein the content network systemselects the content based on the identifier unique to the mobilecomputing device, and wherein the content network system further selectsthe content based on activity information from the mapped physicalenvironment, the activity information determined based at least in parton the location identifier provided while the mobile computing device isin wireless communication range of the source; and means for providingthe content selected for the mobile computing device for output in thesoftware application, wherein the outputting of the content in thesoftware application occurs while the mobile computing device is locatedoutside wireless communication range of the source; wherein the activityinformation from the mapped physical environment is communicated fromthe device tracking system to the network content system independentlyof the mobile computing device.
 46. The apparatus of claim 45, furthercomprising: means for obtaining the location identifier from the sourcewithin the mapped physical environment, the location identifier receivedwhile the mobile computing device is in range of the source, wherein thesource is a wireless personal area network beacon or an RFID tag, andwherein the location identifier includes a unique location identifier ofthe beacon or the tag.
 47. The apparatus of claim 45, furthercomprising: means for communicating, to the device tracking system,location data that is obtained by the mobile computing device within themapped physical environment while the mobile computing device is inwireless communication range of the source.
 48. The apparatus of claim47, further comprising: means for obtaining network information from aplurality of wireless local area network access points operatingaccording to a wireless local area network protocol; wherein thelocation data transmitted to the device tracking system includes thenetwork information from the plurality of wireless local area networkaccess points, and wherein the network information includes identifyingdata to triangulate or trilaterate the mobile computing device in themapped physical environment relative to the plurality of wireless localarea network access points.
 49. The apparatus of claim 45, wherein themapped physical environment is a retail store, wherein the locationidentifier is correlated to a location associated with at least oneaspect of the retail store, wherein the content is selected based on avisit to a location associated with the at least one aspect of theretail store, and wherein the at least one aspect is provided fromamong: a section, zone, area, display, product, service, brand, orfeature within the retail store.